of steps she had taken in her
strawberry-circuit, and Fred ciphered it out for us that the plot
contained exactly an acre. This was an important item of information for
us. We knew that old Tetchy's lot was of precisely the same size as
ours,--an acre and a half,--and we felt that we could spare an acre for
a strawberry-bed as well as he. We were firmly impressed with the belief
that their acre of strawberries kept the whole family; and I felt sure,
that, if I could only learn the mode of culture, we could in some way
find a market for all we could produce,--although I did not contemplate
inviting customers to our house to eat sour strawberries and such
terribly diluted cream as they were selling. I often saw the Tetchy
girls hoeing and weeding, and have no doubt they performed a very large
part of that important labor. It was light work, as well as home-work,
such as I was extremely anxious to obtain. The wholesome out-door
exercise, I was confident, would give robustness to my health,--and, if
the summer sun did change me from a blonde into a brunette, the winter
intermission would bring that all right again.

We saw there were difficulties in the way of making a beginning, because
of our total ignorance of the business. But among us there was a good
deal of resolution. There was also a strong desire to learn; and a
willingness to do so, coupled with persevering energy of purpose, rarely
fails of its object. We were also prompt to act, whenever we found
action desirable. While others would be deliberating, we would be
pushing on; and I have always found that going forward with spirit and
confidence is one of the surest pledges of success; for it is he who
hesitates and doubts, and so does nothing, that unfits himself for doing
anything.

Success in one thing stimulates to exertion in another. We had already
borne up under calamity, and been quite as fortunate as others, even
when the horizon was overcast by heavy clouds. But now we were
comparatively comfortable; the sky above us was serene, and our hopes
were buoyant; the venture I was proposing to make would cost but a
trifling sum, and, if failure came, the loss could not be great It was
not farming that I was to undertake. There was no land to be bought; it
was merely the better cultivation of what we already had. There was not
even a tool to be purchased. Now no one would be surprised at the
conversion of our whole garden into a cabbage-field; yet many would
wo